By Daniel Payne Catholic News Agency Staff The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a coalition of Catholic families, and numerous other advocates are petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of Catholic schools seeking to be included in Colorado’s universal preschool funding program.  The religious liberty law group Becket said in a Dec. 18 release that the Catholic schools’ advocates — including numerous religious groups, legal organizations, and public policy g

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95, bringing to a close the momentous life of a Churchman who proclaimed the “eternal joy” of Jesus Christ and called himself a “humble worker” in the vineyard of the Lord. His death was announced in Rome on Dec. 31. Cardinal Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was elected pope on April 19, 2005, and took the name Benedict XVI. Eight years later, on Feb. 11, 2013, the 85-year-old shocked the world with the announcement — made in Latin —

A proposed ordinance in the southern Colorado city of Pueblo would require abortion clinics to follow federal law and allow citizens to file a civil complaint against any clinics that violate the law. The proposal comes after news that late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart seeks to open an abortion clinic in the city. The proposal asks U.S. attorneys for the District of Colorado “to investigate and prosecute all abortion providers and abortion-pill distribution networks.” “We c

Oct. 11 marks the 60th anniversary of a monumental event in the history of the Catholic Church: the gathering in Rome of bishops from around the world for the start of the Second Vatican Council. Vatican II, as it is popularly known today, was not one long, singular meeting, but rather a complex series of four deliberative sessions held between 1962 and 1965. Nor was the council held for one, specific purpose, but rather many reasons, though  aggiornamento  — the desire to co

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Adams County, Colorado, sustained thousands of dollars in estimated damage from a pair of drive-by shootings Aug. 6 and Aug. 8, 2022. | Courtesy of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church A gunman shot at a Denver-area Catholic church in separate early morning incidents Saturday and Monday. No one was hurt, but one estimate suggests the gunshots caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Parish staff s

The first images from the James Webb space telescope reveal God’s creation and feed our souls, a Jesuit brother and astronomer said Thursday. “The images are gorgeous, as anyone can see for themselves. It’s a tantalizing glimpse of what we’ll be able to learn about the universe with this telescope in the future,” Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the  Vatican Observatory  since 2015, said in a July 14 statement. Consolmagno said the images are “a necessary food for the hum

Photo: Vatican Media/CNA Pope Francis published a letter on the liturgy June 29, nearly one year after he issued the motu proprio Traditiones custodes, restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. In the  15-page apostolic letter , Desiderio Desideravi, the Pope said he wanted “to invite the whole Church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration.” “I want the beauty of the Christian celebration and its necessary co

DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 17: Cardinal James Stafford celebrates the Liturgy of the Eucharist 60th Anniversary Mass commemorating his ordination to the priesthood at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on December 17, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Anya Semenoff/Denver Catholic) What does it mean to pray “ceaselessly”? For Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Major Penitentiary Emeritus of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the answer to that question is the key to an

The U.S. Supreme Court  issued a ruling Friday  overturning the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade as well as the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In simplest terms, this means that abortion is no longer legal nationwide — the legality of abortion is now determined at the state level. There are a lot of myths out there about what this ruling means and what will happen next. Here are some responses to common myths about the overturning of Roe v. Wade: Myth 1: Abortion is now

Anti-abortion campaigners celebrate outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 24, 2022. - The US Supreme Court on Friday ended the right to abortion in a seismic ruling that shreds half a century of constitutional protections on one of the most divisive and bitterly fought issues in American political life. The conservative-dominated court overturned the landmark 1973 "Roe v Wade" decision that enshrined a woman's right to an abortion and said individual states

Father Doug Grandon holds the Blessed Sacrament during a Eucharistic Procession. (Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash) Father Doug Grandon is a Catholic priest today, but spent the first half of his life as a Protestant. As an Anglican priest, he began to wonder whether the liturgy he was celebrating actually resulted in the body and blood of Christ, or simply bread and wine. In 2003, he became Catholic. “I have no doubt now that I give people the body and blood of Christ when

A woman chalks a message at a makeshift memorial outside of Tops market on May 15, 2022 in Buffalo, New York. A gunman opened fire at the store May 14 killing ten people and wounding another three. The attack was believed to be motivated by racial hatred. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) The U.S. Catholic bishops appealed on Monday for “an honest dialogue rooted in Christ” about the “persistent evil of racism” after two mass shootings. In a May 16  statement , the U.S. Con

Pope Francis will preside over the first canonizations in more than two years this weekend. Ten people will be officially recognized as saints by the Catholic Church on May 15. Among them are some relatively well-known figures, like  Charles de Foucauld ,  Titus Brandsma , and  Devasahayam Pillai . Less well known are the four Catholic female leaders who will be canonized alongside them. Each of the women founded religious orders which have grown worldwide and made a lasting

Mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe inside Christ Cathedral in Orange, California | Kate Veik/CNA On Mother’s Day, Catholics recognize two important figures: our mother, and Mary, Mother of God. In celebration of all that mothers do, here are 12 quotes from saints and other Catholic figures on the beauty and significance of motherhood: 1. St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.” 2. József Cardinal Mindszenty: “The Most Impo

In a stunning development, the news organization Politico on Monday night  published what it said was a leaked draft  of the eagerly anticipated Supreme Court decision in the Mississippi abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. If authentic, the  98-page draft , allegedly written by conservative associate justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., is a bombshell document that reveals that a five-justice majority is poised to overturn a pair of landmark decisions that ha

Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver has written again to the head of the German bishops’ conference reiterating that the country’s synodal path challenges, and even repudiates, the deposit of faith. “The Synodal Path does not simply address ‘structural’ concerns: it challenges, and in some instances repudiates, the deposit of faith. Documents of the Synodal Path cannot be read in any other way than as raising the most serious questions about the nature and binding authority of

Since last summer, a Colorado man has been helping Catholic schoolchildren in Uganda using the two “universal” things that they share: Catholicism and mathematics. Brad Jolly is a relatively new Catholic, having converted to the faith at age 50. He’s a parishioner and active Knight of Columbus at St. John the Baptist in Longmont, Colorado, less than an hour northwest of Denver. During summer 2021, Jolly tuned into a six-week online course, taught by Daniel Campbell, director

What do a certain Polish nun and a certain Polish pope have in common? They both became saints and they were both instrumental in the institution of Divine Mercy Sunday, which offers many graces to the faithful. Be sure to thank St. John Paul II and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska this April 24 because as Divine Mercy Sunday rolls around again this year, the faithful have the opportunity to take refuge in the depths of Christ’s mercy by receiving either a plenary or partial indul

Letter warns that Germany's 'Synodal Path' could lead to schism More than 70 bishops from around the world including Archbishop Samuel Aquila have released a “ fraternal open letter ” to Germany’s bishops warning that sweeping changes to Church teaching advocated by the ongoing process known as the “Synodal Path” may lead to schism. Read the full letter The letter expresses “our growing concern about the nature of the entire German ‘Synodal Path,'” which the signatories say

Pope Francis prays in front of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions and the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta Marto on May 12, 2017. (Photo: LUSA Press Agency) Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Vatican announced on Tuesday. The Holy See press office  said  on March 15: “On Friday, March 25, during the Celebration of Penance